Since 2000, the City of Florence has revived the traditional Florentine New Year, celebrated on March 25 until 1750, an essential component of local culture. To celebrate the festival, there are a variety of events in the run-up to the 25th. Events are hosted by museums, piazzas, and historical buildings around the city. The MUS.E Foundation has also organised a range of guided tours, teaching guests about iconic monuments around the city, including [...]
Every year on February 18, Florence celebrates the last Medici ruler who willed her family’s extensive art collection to Florence with free museum entry and a reenactment. Anna Maria Luisa de’Medici was a heroine in more ways than one. Her mother, Marguerite d’Orleans, deserted the family and went back to France. Anna Maria Luisa had two brothers: one, Ferdinando, died before his father Cosimo III de’Medici; another Gian Gastone, was gay. Neither, [...]
Join in an evening of passion-fuelled music held in one of Italy’s most iconic landmarks, the Cathedral of Florence, which will host the world premiere of ‘Requiem for the Earth,’ featuring guest artist Paco Peña, a musical icon well known in the world of flamenco. The finale will feature a vibrant dance choreography. The free performance will be held on Thursday, November 27 at 9:30 pm. The composition will be interpreted by [...]
One of Florence’s chief landmarks will open its doors to the public for a free orchestral concert on Wednesday, 10 September. The performance, conducted by Maestro Diego Ceretta, features music by Luigi Cherubini and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The programme, lasting around 60 minutes without interval, will be performed by the Orchestra Regionale della Toscana (ORT) in collaboration with the Opera di Santa Croce. Choirmaster Raffaele Puccianti will lead soloists Francesca Pia Vitale (soprano), [...]
Could anything be more magical than listening to Mozart and Mendelssohn in the church of Santa Croce on a beautiful Florentine evening? The July 23, 2025 concert will be a treat for the senses. The audience can admire Renaissance painter Taddeo Gaddi’s magnificent ‘Tree of Life’ and ‘Last Supper,’ whilst listening to acclaimed young musicians in the refectory of church. The performance takes place on Wednesday at 9.30 pm. Entrance is completely free, [...]
The famed a cappella group, The King’s Singers, will perform a concert with free admission in the Florence cathedral on Thursday, May 22 at 9 pm. The English ensemble will interpret a program entitled Peregrinación – Musica dal Nuovo Mondos, mainly comprised of pieces composed in South America both by natives and Spanish settlers This last event in the O Flos Colende series of sacred music offers free admission by reserving a [...]
Florence’s annual Baroque Music Festival kicks off with a free concert at the Church of Santa Felicita near Ponte Vecchio on Friday, May 3 at 9 pm. The performance, an hour long, will highlight the talents of organist Federico del Sordo and singer Angelo Goffredo, specialists in sacred music, who will interpret the music of 17th century composers Girolamo Frescobaldi, Giovan Battista Fasolo, Giovanni Paolo Cima, Lodovico Grossi da Viadana and Giovanni [...]
The Netherlands Interuniversity for Art History (NIKI) will be holding a lecture called ‘Drama in the Tuscan Countryside: excavations of the Marzuolo Archaeological Project (2016 – 2024)’ on Wednesday, March 5. The talk will be led by Astrid Van Oyen, a professor of archaeology at Radbound University, Nijmegen. The event, which will take place both in person at NIKI’s Florence location on Viale Evangelista Torricelli 5, and online, will offer listeners a unique [...]
It has been 102 years since the birth of Florence’s Franco Zeffirelli, and to celebrate, on February 12, the Zeffirelli Foundation are opening their doors to residents of the greater Florence metropolitan area to visit the collection for free. All you will need is proof of residency in the metropolitan area, which is comprised of Bagno a Ripoli, Calenzano, Campi Bisenzio, Fiesole, Florence, Impruneta, Lastra a Signa, Sandicci, Sesto Fiorentino and Signa and [...]
Festa della Toscana is a day dedicated to celebrating the abolition of the death penalty–Tuscany was the first European state to do so. To honor that historic decision, authorities and citizens commemorate the date every year on November 30, as it was originally outlawed in 1786 by Grand Duke Leopold II. On this day, palaces and monuments across all 273 Tuscan municipalities are illuminated in red. This year, the Festa della Toscana will [...]
